Coca-Cola is bringing back New Coke in honor of 'Stranger Things' this summer—but do you actually want to drink it?

Johanna Gretschel, Austin American-Statesman

Tuesday

May 21, 2019 at 11:53 AM

I'm not old enough to have tasted Coca-Cola's failed 1985 reformulation, otherwise known as "New Coke," but by all accounts (including some very heated takes in the Austin-American Statesman's slack channels), the soft drink was bad enough to be pulled from shelves within a matter of months.

This summer, millennials and the youth of Generation Z can try New Coke for the very first time thanks to Coca-Cola's new partnership with hit Netflix show "Stranger Things." The 80's-set streaming phenomenon returns for its third season this fourth of July, and with it comes one of the most infamous marketing fails of all time.

Of course, Netflix is hoping the campaign is a boon for business—not a bust.

Everyone: I don’t think Stranger Things can get any more 80’s.Stranger Things: Hold my New Coke…#StrangerThings3#Enjoypic.twitter.com/xnCGY1dkrQ

— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola)May 21, 2019

Starting on Thursday, limited edition "Stranger Things" Coke and Coke Zero glass bottles will be available for purchase on the Coca-Cola website. Coca-Cola will also produce less than 500,000 12-ounce cans, according to CNN, which will available at "Stranger Things" themed pop-up vending machines in select cities this summer, and as giveaways with a gift or ticket at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta.

According to "Stranger Things" creators Matt and Ross Duffer, the New Coke tie-in was natural given this season's setting in the summer of 1985.

SUMMER IS COMING#StrangerThings3pic.twitter.com/utXeOf46ln

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things)May 20, 2019

"New Coke was always going to play a role this season," the Duffer Brothers wrote in an email to The New York Times. "It was one of the first ideas in our Season 3 brainstorm. It was the summer of '85, and when you talk about pop culture moments, New Coke was a really big deal. It would have been more bizarre not include it."

Coca-Cola is just one of about 75 companies that Netflix is working with to help promote the show—yes, a single show!—along with Baskin-Robbins, Levi's and H&M. The NYT notes that the commercial-free streaming service has 149 million paid subscribers worldwide, and has used paid and unpaid product placement in its original series and films.